STOKE-ON-TRENT John Caudwell, the billionaire businessmen, gave more than £3.5 million to employees of the mobile phone chain that he sold three months ago.
Mr Caudwell handed out cheques of between £5,000 and £15,000 at a farewell party for more than 800 staff at his former headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent. He said: “I really wanted to recognise and reward my loyal employees who have been with me for more than five years — over 500 of you — by showing you a token of my appreciation for your length of service.”
Mr Caudwell sold his business, which included Phones 4U, for £1.46 billion, personally netting £1.24 billion.
Some staff shouted for joy when they saw their cheques. Jacqueline Sherwin, who received £11,000, said: “We knew there was a surprise and thought it might be a £1,000 bonus but this is incredible.”